Package and method of making same



July 1 6, 1935. L SALFIQBERG 2,008,659

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Dec. 10, 1931IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL INVENTOR iii Patented July 16, 1935 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Leroy L.Sallisberg, South Orange, N. J.

ApplicationDccember 10, 1931, Serial No. 580,116

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improvement in packages and methodof making the same, and finds application more particularly to thepackaging of products such as medicinal or mical preparations, ediblearticles in tablet or similar form, articles of hardware, buttons and/orother relatively small articles.

In some respects this invention constitutes an improvement over theinvention described and claimed in my Patent No. 1,413,064 dated April18th, 1922, wherein I have described a package in which the articles arecarried separated by crimped sealing po in compartments rtions, thepackaging material being of paper having a coating of paraffin.

An object of the present invention has been to provide a package whichembodies some of the advantages and desirable qualities of the packagedescribed and claimed in my patent aforesaid as well as other novelfeatures permitting effective use of transparent cellulose as thepackaging material, and a method of making such a package.

One difficulty in the use of p transparent coated cellulose h ackagesmade of aving properties otherwise suitable for the purpose is itsrelative toughness or resistance to tearing which prevents ready accessto or removal of the contents.

I provide a package whereobviate this difficulty,

in different portions of the walls have different characteristics ordegrees of toughness. For example, those portions of the walls whichengage the packaged contents or which form the compartment or space inwhich the packaged articles are confined, retain the normal toughness ofthe material; whereas other walls, namely those which are portions ofthe pressed together to define or close the article containing space arerelatively more brittle than the first mentioned portions.

A further object of my inven provide a method of making a these featuresof construction. pose, I preferably employ tran tion has been to packagehaving For this pursparent cellulose sheet material provided with afusible coating to form the walls of my package. applied to portionsthereof in sufficient When heat is amount,

said coating is melted or fused and embrittlement of the underlyingcellulose substance occurs. In-

terior surfaces of said heated portions of the walls are pressed intoadhering contact to define or close the contents receiving compartmentor space above referred to.

In the drawing accompanying ification, I have illustrated a p thepresent specreferred form of,

package embodying my invention and also have shown portions of apparatusin connection with the use of which my improved method may beeffectively practiced. In this drawing 2-- Figure '1 is a plan view of aportion of a strip of transparent cellulose with articles arranged acomportion Figure 4, a transverse section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5, a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6, a schematic side elevation of apparatus for longitudinallysealing and for forming transversely separated compartments; and

Figures 7 and 8 are detail views in perspective, illustrating cutting orpunching devices for reducing the cross sectional area of thecompartment separating portions of the package.

In making one type of package according to the method forming a part ofmy present invention a strip 8 of transparent cellulose or liketransparent flexible material having a fusible coating of transparentsubstance, such for example as that described in United States patent toCharch and Prindle, No. 1,737,187, is folded longitudinally to form ineffect a tubular container with its inner surface coated adapted toenclose spaced articles 2 either with or without a marker or insert l4.Devices for folding strips of this type are shown in the patent to C. H.McDonald,

1,531,804. In connection therewith I employ platen l is supported toextend in the direction of movement of the strip I and underlies foldedover portions thereof in such a manner that, when the heated roller 3 ispressed downwardly against the upper folded over portion or layer,

the overlapping portions or layers are pressed together and subjected toheat at the same time. This fuses or melts the coating of the heated andpressed together parts and forms a closure or sealing represented at 6,Figures 4 and 5, ex-

tending longitudinally of the tube.

The patent to McDonald also illustrates crimping devices in advance ofthe folding devices.

For the purposes of my inventidn, insofar as ittions of the layers orwalls of the package by,-

means of the dies 1 produces melting or fusing of the coating of opposedinterior surfaces of said portions and the pressing together of saidfused surfaces into adhering contact. A further effect of heatingportions of the walls by said dies is a localized chemical orphysiochemical change in structure of the package material whereby saidheated portions after cooling are relatively more brittle and morereadily torn than the unheated portions.

Another way of weakening the cross section of the illustrated type ofpackage at the transversely sealed or adhering portions is to provideopposed notches IO and II, Figure 2, formed by punching out or cuttingaway portions of the adhering walls. For this purpose, one of the dies 1is provided with recesses l2 which co-operate with projections [3,Figures 7 and 8, to form a punch or cutter whereby, when the packageforming tube passes between the dies 1, portions of the material of thecompartment separating or adhering parts of the package walls arepunched out or cut away.

In cases where it is desirable to incorporate with the packaged articlesa suitable marking to indicate origin, to identify the contents, or forsome other purpose, I provide an insert or marker in the form of a stripas I4, preferably of relatively opaque material or bearing markings Iiarranged to be visible through the walls of the compartments. As shownin Figure 6, themsert I4 is conveniently incorporated in the packagesimultaneously with the article depositing and strip folding operations,as shown in Figure 5, portions of the marking strip are secured betweenthe opposed crimped or pressed together walls of the tube, so that themarker remains in substantially fixed relation to the compartment walls.

It will be understood, in connection with the above description ofapparatus for producing a package embodying my invention and forpracticing my improved method, that the showing of resistance elementsis merely diagrammatic, it being contemplated that such devices willpreferably be designed and located to meet the spe cial requirements ofvarious kinds of packages, or to co-operate, as an attachment, withvarious types of folding and/or crimping or pressing instrumentalities.

I claim:-

1. In the method of commodity packaging utistricted area of said coatedmaterial to an extent greater than that required to produce the mereadherence of said packaging material with another portion of packagingmaterial but to anextent less than that which would cause the crumblingof the material, whereby a package is produced utilizing the essentialwiry nature of said .material in a commodity retaining area whileutilizing an embrittled bonded area adjacent said retaining area as anintegral seal susceptible to facile tearing for ready access to thecommodity retaining area for removal of the commodity therefrom.

2. A package in the form of a commodity en'- closing sheath comprisingregenerated cellulose packaging mater al of an essentially wiry natureand having a coated area of said packaging material joined in bond withanother portion of packaging'material adjacent said commodity enclosure,said area of bond of said packaging material being of an oxidizedbrittle nature whereby said package utilizes the normally wiry nature ofsaid packaging material for the commodity enclosing area and utilizessaid brittle'area of bond as a seal for said enclosing area susceptibleto facile tearing for ready access to the commodity retaining area topermit removal of the commodity therefrom.

3. A package composed of opposed layers of regenerated cellulose of anessentially wiry nature joinedtogether in restricted areas in aninseparable and embrittled bond, diifering in tearing characteristicsfrom said normal wiry nature of said material, as distinguished from aseparable adhering bond, to form a seal joining said layers in acommodity containing enclosure composed of said other areas ofsaid'layers of said wiry nature, said bond being susceptible to faciletearing for permitting ready access to the commodity retaining enclosureformed by the areas of material of a nature relatively more resistive totearing.

4. A package in accordance with claim 3 in which said layers areinterdigitated in said bond.

5. A package comprising a plurality of commodity containing envelopes offlexible regenerated cellulose packaging material of an essentially wirynatureinter-joined by sealing areas of packaging material of a differentphysiochemical nature less resistive to tearing and of an oxidizedembrittled nature whereby said package utilizes the wiry nature of saidmaterial in said containing envelopes for commodity retaining purposesand utilizes said embrittled sealing areas of said material to permitfacile separation of said envelopes.

6. A package in accordance with claim 5 in which said sealing areas haveportions of reduced dimensions to further facilitate tearing at saidareas.

LEROY L. SALFISBERG.

